"Get Busy"

This is me last year.

There's no dialogue bubble, so lemme subtitle the expression on my face.

"Where the HELL am I, HOW did I get here and WHERE on God's Green Earth am I headed?"

(Metaphorically and in a life sense, of course. I'm actually quite adept at geography.)

Now fast forward to today. I'm a blogger now. I do things. More specifically, if you've read my bio, I do shenanigans. I tell people I keep it short and cryptic because I dig white space, but everyone who reads this blog knows that's a LIE. Truth is, I don't know exactly what it means yet. But I know I'm getting much closer to a hard plan.

And I attribute much of that to the amazing people I've met in this socially-cyber place who are making a real go of it. I'm speaking with them. I'm listening to them. And I'm watching what works.


I recently had the honor of joining Talent Revolution's site, and was bowled over by the sheer force of positive energy that greeted me. Nay, greeted is too prosaic. Let's just say that when you sign up, get in your best athletic stance, and brace yourself for a herd of running huggers and excited screamers. And it's genuine. The energy there is unnerving and moving. And when they promise "a drastic change in thinking and behaving," they mean it. And when people's actions match their promises, I sit up and take notice. Like I said, I watch what works.

Now here's where this story gets a little goosebumpy. If you've read my Twitter Current Theory, you already know how I feel about the crazy coincidences of the paths we cross here and why.

Three days ago, I sat reading an old blog post by Talent Revolution Founder and CEO, Amanda Hite, aka @Sexythinker.

You can (and absolutely should) read the whole thing over at Talent Revolution. To summarize, it's a piece about her bucket list. Her goals. The path that led her to defining them, and then to realizing them. It's powerful. It's honest. It's brave. It's flipping hilarious.

And ya wanna know when she published that post? Ya wanna?

Literally days before that shot of me was taken. When I was thinking of my own bucket list.

Yuh huh.

And if you have a second to follow me through my own journey, you'll see what can happen if you listen and watch others who have done what you want to do.

These are the three passages that lingered as I finished her post. And still do.
. . .
As I write down things like "get busy on the roof top of our favorite restaurant/bar in Laguna Beach," I hope I won’t have to share the list with my class.

Ultimately, I leave with a five-year plan, complete with a budget and 12 months worth of action steps. (Apparently, this is a process only 3% of the population takes the time to do. A process I swear by now that I’ve done it.)

At this moment, I couldn’t ask for more.
. . .

My God's honest, hand-to-heaven, first reaction after reading the post? These two questions formed, almost simultaneously: What does she have to "get busy" fixing on the roof of that restaurant? And, What is this thing she calls "a five-year plan?"

Yuh huh.

I'm that lame. When I read it over for the third time, I got it. Oh, get busy. She's talkin' about . . . (huge smile, partial blush).

And that led me to think, Why does a girl my age, who has two children, not know what that means?

Which led me back to my own bucket list, written in a flower-embossed journal, by a 17-year-old, barely-been-kissed girl, which says things like . . .

Buy a farm.
Own a home that is more porch than anything else and has a screen door that sees a lot of action from neighbors.
(Note: AT least something on my bucket list was "getting busy.")
Own a 1976 F-150, oxydized blue.
Wear braids when you're a grandmother.

Are you hearing this chick? She has everything on her list but the sunset and the rocking chairs, and is hailing a dilapidated old rust bucket to drive her straight into it. And so can you guess where she's been heading for the past decade? Can ya?!

Yuh HUH.

I once had a ski instructor tell me, "You'll always head where you're looking. Always." That stuck. But apparently I hadn't made the metaphoric leap.

Honestly, all the things on my list still sound nice. But I've been building a paradigm rather than living a life. Daily. Every minute. Every second. Right now. On rooftops. I've been wishing and waiting, rather than just getting busy.

So can you guess what I'm doing today?

YUH HUH.

New bucket list. And this one is being written based on the Amanda-Hite model. Write it quickly and from the gut. Things I want RIGHT NOW. Things I can go get RIGHT NOW.

(Huge smile spreading across my face.)

*Warning* If you're on my list, brace yourself, because the driving theme is "Get Busy."

And speaking of driving, first item on the list:

Road trip to Drastic Change.

In the mood? If not, read Keeping Right, another brilliant post by the Talent Revolution team. You will be.

Kicking off shoes and loading the iPod with driving tunes.

Thank you, Talent Revolution for your amazing welcome. Thank you, Amanda for your bold honesty. Thank you, Leigh for the introduction. And thank you, Chris for pushing me to write.